ChildFund International Ecuador

A successful first Global Dialogue on AI Governance should deliver clear, actionable, and inclusive outcomes that move beyond principles into implementation. First, it should produce practical global guidelines for safe, ethical, and rights-based AI, with explicit safeguards for children and other vulnerable groups. These guidelines should support governments and companies in applying a "safety by design" approach, especially in digital platforms used by children. Second, the Dialogue should lead to concrete multi-stakeholder commitments, including governments, private sector, civil society, and International Organisations. These commitments should focus on reducing risks such as online violence, exploitation, and misuse of children's data. Third, it should strengthen global and regional cooperation mechanisms, particularly to support countries in the Global South. This includes capacity-building, technology transfer, and investment in digital infrastructure and skills. Fourth, the Dialogue should ensure meaningful participation of children and adolescents, recognizing them as rights holders and key stakeholders in digital governance. Finally, success means establishing a clear roadmap for follow-up, including monitoring progress, sharing best practices, and aligning AI governance with the Sustainable Development Goals. In summary, success is not only dialogue—but decisions, commitments, and pathways for implementation, grounded in human rights and focused on equity.

• Safe, secure and trustworthy AI
• Protection and promotion of human rights
• Transparency, accountability, and human oversight
• AI capacity-building

From our perspective, these four priorities are essential to ensure that AI governance is ethical, inclusive, and responsive to the realities faced by children and adolescents, particularly in Latin America. Safe, secure and trustworthy AI is critical, as children are increasingly exposed to digital risks such as online violence, exploitation, and harmful content. AI systems must be designed with built-in safeguards ("safety by design") to prevent harm. Protection and promotion of human rights is the foundation of all AI governance. A child rights-based approach is essential to ensure that principles such as the best interests of the child, participation, privacy, and protection are fully integrated into AI policies and systems. Transparency, accountability, and human oversight are necessary to build trust and ensure that AI systems can be monitored, understood, and challenged when they negatively affect individuals-especially children. Clear accountability mechanisms are key in cases of harm or misuse. AI capacity-building is a priority in contexts where digital divides persist. In countries like Ecuador, limited access to technology, skills, and institutional capacity increases vulnerability. Strengthening capacities across governments, communities, and children themselves is essential to ensure equitable participation and protection. Together, these priorities reflect the need to balance innovation with protection, equity, and accountability, ensuring that AI contributes positively to children's development and rights.

Yes, there are important cross-cutting issues that require stronger attention. First, children's rights in the digital environment should be explicitly recognized as a cross-cutting priority. While human rights are included, children face specific and heightened risks that require tailored safeguards and policies. Second, the issue of online violence and exploitation, including grooming, sextortion, and AI-generated harmful content, is rapidly evolving. AI is not only a tool for protection but also increasingly used to facilitate harm. This dual nature requires urgent regulatory and technical responses. Third, data governance and children's data protection deserve greater focus. Children's data is often collected, used, and shared without adequate safeguards, increasing risks of profiling, manipulation, and long-term harm. Fourth, participation of children and adolescents should be strengthened as a principle and practice. Their perspectives are essential to designing relevant and effective AI policies. Finally, ethical use of AI in humanitarian and social sectors is an emerging issue. AI tools used in education, protection, and social services must be carefully assessed to avoid bias, exclusion, or unintended harm. Addressing these cross-cutting issues is key to ensuring that AI governance is inclusive, protective, and future-oriented, particularly for children.

In Ecuador and across Latin America, governance gaps in AI are significantly affecting children and adolescents, particularly in contexts of inequality and limited institutional capacity. One of the most critical challenges is the lack of comprehensive regulatory frameworks for AI and digital platforms. This creates an environment where children are exposed to increasing risks such as online violence, grooming, sextortion, and misuse of personal data, often without effective prevention or response mechanisms. A second major gap is limited capacity-building. Public institutions, educators, and child protection systems often lack the technical knowledge and tools to understand, regulate, or respond to AI-related risks. At the same time, children and families frequently do not have the digital literacy needed to navigate these environments safely. Third, there are important deficits in transparency and accountability. Many AI systems operate as "black boxes," making it difficult to identify responsibility when harm occurs, particularly in cases involving automated decision-making or harmful content. However, there are also key opportunities. The growing global focus on AI governance creates space for regional alignment and cooperation, allowing countries to adopt shared standards and benefit from international expertise. In Ecuador, ongoing policy discussions on digital safety and children's rights provide an entry point to integrate AI governance into existing child protection frameworks. Additionally, there is an opportunity to promote child-centered innovation, where AI is used to strengthen education, protection systems, and access to services—if guided by ethical and rights-based principles. Addressing these gaps requires coordinated action to ensure that AI development contributes to reducing inequalities, strengthening protection systems, and empowering children as active participants in the digital world.

The Global AI Dialogue can play a critical role as a platform for convergence, coordination, and collective action in AI governance. First, it can help align diverse national and regional approaches by promoting shared principles, standards, and safeguards, particularly those grounded in human rights. This is essential to avoid fragmented governance that leaves gaps in protection—especially for children and other vulnerable groups. Second, the Dialogue can strengthen multi-stakeholder cooperation, bringing together governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, and International Organisations. This is particularly important in addressing cross-border challenges such as online harm, data flows, and platform accountability. Third, it can serve as a mechanism to bridge global inequalities, by facilitating knowledge exchange, capacity-building, and resource mobilization for countries in the Global South. Many countries face significant gaps in technical expertise, infrastructure, and regulatory capacity, which require coordinated international support. Fourth, the Dialogue can help translate technical and scientific knowledge into policy action, ensuring that evidence informs practical and context-sensitive governance solutions. Importantly, the Dialogue should also promote inclusive participation, including the voices of children and young people, whose rights and experiences must be central to AI governance discussions. In sum, the AI Dialogue can act as a catalyst for coherent, inclusive, and action-oriented international cooperation, ensuring that AI governance advances equity, accountability, and the protection of human rights globally.

The AI Dialogue should build upon and connect with existing global, regional, and sectoral initiatives to maximize coherence and impact. Key frameworks include the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its General Comment No. 25 on children's rights in the digital environment, which provide a strong normative basis for integrating child rights into AI governance. Additionally, initiatives such as the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI and the Global Digital Compact offer important guidance on ethical and inclusive digital transformation. At the regional level, emerging efforts in Latin America on digital policy and child protection—along with national initiatives on online safety—provide practical entry points for implementation. Multi-stakeholder platforms and partnerships involving civil society, academia, and the private sector are also essential in generating evidence and innovative solutions. The added value of the AI Dialogue lies in its ability to connect these efforts into a coherent global ecosystem. It can bridge normative frameworks with implementation by promoting alignment across initiatives, avoiding duplication, and fostering shared accountability. Furthermore, the Dialogue can elevate underrepresented perspectives—particularly from the Global South and from children themselves—ensuring that governance approaches are inclusive and context-sensitive. It can also facilitate the development of practical tools, joint commitments, and measurable outcomes, moving beyond high-level principles toward real-world impact. Ultimately, the Dialogue's added value is its capacity to act as a global connector and accelerator, strengthening collaboration and ensuring that AI governance delivers on human rights and sustainable development.

Different stakeholders bring complementary roles that are essential for effective AI governance. Governments should lead in developing regulatory frameworks and ensuring alignment with human rights standards. Private sector actors must contribute technical expertise and commit to safe-by-design practices, transparency, and accountability. Civil society organizations can provide evidence from the ground, highlight risks, and advocate for vulnerable groups, including children. Academia and the technical community can offer research, risk assessments, and innovative solutions. International Organisations can facilitate coordination, standard-setting, and capacity-building. Importantly, children and young people should be recognized as stakeholders, contributing their lived experiences and perspectives. To support meaningful contributions, the AI Dialogue should adopt a multi-layered structure: High-level plenaries to define political priorities and commitments Thematic working groups focused on key issues (e.g., child safety, data governance, capacity-building) Regional consultations to reflect diverse contexts, especially from the Global South Interactive sessions that enable dialogue across sectors, not only formal statements The process should ensure balanced representation, clear facilitation, and outputs linked to policy action.

Several key voices remain underrepresented in global AI governance discussions. First, children and adolescents are rarely included, despite being among the most affected by digital technologies. Their participation is often symbolic rather than meaningful. Second, communities from the Global South, including rural populations, indigenous groups, and those in contexts of poverty or mobility, are underrepresented. Their realities are often not reflected in global policy debates. Third, frontline practitioners—such as teachers, social workers, and child protection professionals—are often excluded, even though they directly experience the impacts of digital technologies. Fourth, marginalized groups, including girls, LGBTQ+ youth, and persons with disabilities, face specific risks that are not always addressed. To improve inclusion, the AI Dialogue should: Establish safe and structured mechanisms for child participation, adapted to age and context Ensure regional and linguistic diversity, including interpretation and accessible formats Provide financial and logistical support to enable participation from underrepresented groups Integrate community-based evidence and lived experiences into discussions Inclusion must move beyond presence to meaningful influence in decision-making processes.

To foster meaningful and dynamic engagement, the AI Dialogue should move beyond traditional formats and adopt more interactive and inclusive approaches. First, multi-stakeholder labs or "solution labs" could bring together governments, companies, civil society, and young people to co-design practical responses to specific challenges, such as online child protection or data governance. Second, youth-led sessions should be integrated into the core agenda, not as side events. These spaces should allow children and adolescents to present recommendations and directly engage with decision-makers. Third, scenario-based simulations could be used to explore real-world dilemmas, such as AI-related harm or ethical trade-offs, helping participants understand complex issues and test responses. Fourth, regional dialogue hubs (hybrid format) can ensure broader participation from different regions, especially where travel is a barrier. These hubs can feed directly into global discussions. Fifth, the Dialogue could include evidence-to-policy sessions, where research findings are translated into concrete policy options through facilitated discussions. Finally, digital tools such as interactive platforms, live polling, and collaborative drafting spaces can support real-time engagement and transparency. These formats can help ensure that the Dialogue is not only inclusive, but also practical, participatory, and results-oriented.

From ChildFund's perspective, effective AI governance must be grounded in child rights, safeguarding principles, and practical implementation mechanisms. Several existing policies, practices, and approaches offer valuable examples. First, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its General Comment No. 25 on children's rights in the digital environment provide a strong normative framework to guide AI governance. They emphasize protection, participation, privacy, and the best interests of the child, which are critical for AI systems affecting children. Second, the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence offers a comprehensive global standard, promoting human rights, accountability, and inclusiveness. It is particularly relevant for embedding ethical safeguards into AI systems. Third, child safeguarding frameworks used by organizations like ChildFund demonstrate practical approaches to risk management. These include safeguarding policies, incident reporting mechanisms, and risk assessments that could be adapted to AI systems, particularly in identifying and mitigating digital harms. Fourth, multi-stakeholder initiatives on online child protection, including partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector, provide concrete models for collaboration. These initiatives often combine prevention, awareness, and response mechanisms to address risks such as online exploitation. Fifth, capacity-building and digital literacy programs, such as those implemented by ChildFund and partners, empower children, families, and communities to safely engage in digital environments. These programs are essential complements to regulatory approaches. Finally, emerging "safety by design" approaches in technology development represent a promising practice, ensuring that protection measures are integrated from the outset. Together, these examples show that effective AI governance requires a combination of normative frameworks, practical tools, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and child-centered approaches.